There have recently been prevailing portable terminals and set-top boxes which enable utilization of the Internet or email without any computer such as a personal computer or the like. A set-top box means a device which is connected to a television and provides various services. This device incorporates a browser software application which analyzes HTML data to execute rasterization and display, email application, character data, and the like. The user can use these functions through a display device such a CRT or television display, and even a general user unskilled in personal computers can be provided with an Internet environment. When a printer is connected to the device, an Internet homepage or email data can be printed, and printing can be executed in various installed applications. However, in printing in the above-mentioned system, a page break is sometimes inserted in the middle of character data, and characters may be printed across two pages. Data such as a homepage or email is not bound by the conception of page, and how to rasterize data on a page depends on an application such as a browser in the device. Some browsers insert a page break in the middle of character data. As a result, characters may be printed across two pages, and the output result may become hard for the user to see.
As a means for solving the problem, for example, there is disclosed Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-15749. In this example, source data before rasterization such as HTML data or the like is analyzed and undergoes rasterization after new HTML data with a changed layout is created. Thus, it is impossible to implement the solution in a printer driver or the like which has no HTML data analysis and generation functions.